Strathmore Postcards:
I've been loving these Strathmore brand watercolor postcards. They're 300 gsm, so they're relatively heavy bond and you can really glop on the gouache (though it's not a great method, admittedly).
Check them out here.
Princeton Brushes:
I started messing around with painting after buying one of these Chronicle Books paint-by-number kits. And while the brush sorta sucked and the acrylics weren't great quality, it was a ton of fun.
I've subsequently discovered the wonderful world of Princeton Paint Brushes, and have been using a number of different brushes from their Real Value (9100) series. Then, once I felt like I was actually getting better, I upgraded to a four-piece set of Princeton's Velvetouch bruchses, and the difference was night and day. I still suck, but when I get better, I'll upgrade again, probably. But so far, I love Princeton brushes so much.
The Gouache:
I started out with a set of affordable Savoir Faire gouache tubes, and they were great to learn on. Once I'd burned through most of them, I gave myself a little upgrade to the Holbein Artists Gouache, and it's so much creamier and easier to mix. I really love this stuff.
The Wet Palette:
My pal and neighbor Magan Ruthke
is not only a mind-blowing artist but a real supporter of other artists, including idiots like me! She suggested I get a wet palette to save myself time and to keep me from wasting paint. It's been a real game changer, and I've loved using this Nicpro wet palette, which is portable and great at keeping my paint soft so that I don't have to continually re-wet it (and thereby dillute it).
Cleanup:
I've been using Speedball Pink Soap and this was tank system from MyLifeUNIT, which includes a nifty drying rack so that my brushes stay in good shape. So far, so good!
Storage:
Look, I know it's prescious, but it's also super useful. This Italian-made single layer steel toolbox is a good size for all of my paint, brushes, wet palette, rolls of masking tape, etc.
Miscellaneous:
A couple of things that have helped me get better and sharper are this Fiskars brand bone folder, which I use to seal the edges of the KIWIHUB watercolor masking tape that I bought at Artist and Craftsman Supply in Baltimore. When I'm done with a piece I use a matte finish fixatif (another Magan Ruthke recommendation!) on each piece. I'm using this one.